Today’s post is written by Matt Nightingale, Director of Worship Ministries at Redeemer Covenant Church in Tulsa, OK.
Tonight I’d like to offer a song. Sometimes music says more than our words alone can communicate, and I’ve been singing this one all week long.
At Redeemer this summer we’ve been making our way through a series called “Sing!” – digging into the songs of the Church. What do the songs we sing say about who we are? About what we believe? How do they form us as believers? So far we’ve preached and sung our way through Isaac Watts’s “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (and Matt Redman/Chris Tomlin’s additional new chorus, “The Wonderful Cross”); “I Am Not Skilled To Understand” by Dorothy Greenwell (re-imagined as “My Savior, My God” by Aaron Shust); and “Forever Reign” by Jason Ingram and Reuben Morgan. And this Sunday we’ll be focusing on another popular contemporary worship song, Chris Tomlin’s “Our God.”
As I was thinking and praying through the lyrics of the song and the scriptures upon which it’s based, I was reminded of another song. It’s been on repeat since Tuesday, reminding me of the awesome love of God in Christ Jesus. And how nothing – nothing! – can separate me from it.
Not death. (Not even the sad, quick death of a fellow staff member here at Redeemer. He found out he had cancer in April. The celebration of his life is tomorrow.)
Not heat and extreme drought. (Tulsa has been suffering for weeks now with highs in the 100s and virtually no rainfall. In the last few days, highs have reached 113 and 114. Records are falling left and right. It’s been miserable.)
Not culture wars and ugly social media self-righteousness. (I don’t know if you have Chick-Fil-A where you live, but here in Tulsa, the only thing larger than the lines on Wednesday were the vociferous opinions on both sides of the “issue.”)
Not busy lives. Not financial stress. Not interpersonal challenges. Not family drama. Not church woes. Not illness.
Nothing.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I can’t embed the video, but head on over to Youtube and take a listen to this awesome reminder. If God is for us, who can be against us?
